Laminar indicating target

ABSTRACT

A laminar firearms target comprising a brightly-colored backing sheet, a transparent plastic film bonded to the backing sheet, and a conventional target pattern printed in a black and white ink layer on the front side of the plastic film so as to completely obscure the brightly-colored backing sheet. The properties of the ink layer, plastic film, and backing sheet are such that when the target is struck by a firearm projectile, a substantially larger-than-projectile-size portion of the ink layer is removed at the impact point, while a smaller-thanprojectile-size hole is made in the plastic film and backing sheet. Thus a substantially larger-than-projectile-size area of the brightly-colored backing sheet is revealed, causing the point of impact to appear highly enlarged and in a brightly contrasting color, thereby providing a substantially more visible hit indication at target range distances. In lieu of the ink layer, a mosaic of paper stickers, which are removed individually upon bullet impact, can be provided and the target pattern formed thereon.

United States Patent [191 Lee [ 1 July 22, 1975 LAMINAR INDICATINGTARGET [76] Inventor: James M. Lee, 27 School Ln.,

Willow Grove, Pa. 19090 22] Filed: Aug. 22, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 390,584

[52] US. CL... 273/102 R; 273/102 A; 273/DIG. 24 [51] Int. Cl. F4lj 1/02[58] Field of Search.. 273/102 R, 102 PM, 102.1 R, 273/1021 C, 102.1 CM,102.4, DIG. 22, 102

A, 102 AF; 73/167 Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham AssistantExaminer-Marvin Siskind Attorney, Agent, or FirmD. R. Pressman [57]ABSTRACT A laminar firearms target comprising a brightlycolored backingsheet, a transparent plastic film bonded to the backing sheet, and aconventional target pattern printed in a black and white ink layer onthe front side of the plastic film so as to completely obscure thebrightly-colored backing sheet. The properties of the ink'layer, plasticfilm, and backing sheet are such that when the target is struck by afirearm projectile, a substantially larger-than-projectile-size portionof the ink layer is removed at the impact point, while asmaller-than-projectile-size hole is made in the plastic film andbacking sheet. Thus a substantially larger-than-projectile size area ofthe brightlycolored backing sheet is revealed, causing the point ofimpact to appear highly enlarged and in a brightly contrasting color,thereby providing a substantially more visible hit indication at targetrange distances. In lieu of the ink layer, a mosaic of paper stickers,which are removed individually upon bullet impact, can be provided andthe target pattern formed thereon.

11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 LAMINAR INDICATING TARGET BACKGROUND 1.Field of the Invention This invention relates to a target for firearmswhich, by means of a built in indicator mechanism, produces asubstantially more visible indication of the point of projectile impacton the target than prior art targets.

2. Description of the Prior Art Common firearms targets comprisegenerally a sheet of paper having the usual concentric circles andbullseye printed thereon. When punctured by a speeding bullet, aslightly srnaller-than-bulletsized hole is pro duced in the paper sheet.At conventional target range distances the location of the hole is verydifficult to determine because of its small size and lack of contrastwith the rest of the target. This lack of hole visibility is especiallypronounced when using rounds of small caliber, e.g., 0.22 inch indiameter.

So called indicating targets have become available in recent years.These have included a stretched rubber membrane which, when punctured,revealed a contrasting-colored backing sheet. Another type used a resiliently deformable material mounted behind an inelastic paper targetsheet. A third type relied upon the action of fluid released byprojectile puncture of a capsule. Other types used further relativelycomplex schemes. While providing improved visibility vis-a-vis thesimple paper target, prior art indicating targets suffered from thedrawbacks of high cost due to expensive materials or complex assemblyrequirements, lack of operating reliability, and/or had difficulty of ofmass production, again resulting in high cost. As a result, norelatively inexpensive, reliable, high visibility indicating targets areyet available, to the best of my knowledge.

PRESENT INVENTION The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of theprior art indicating targets by employing a construction which can beduplicated substantially entirely by processes currently in use in theprinting industry. It is therefore extremely inexpensive to produce, yetproduces a very high contrast indication of the point of bullet impact.

Accordingly, several objects of the present invention are to provide anindicating target which overcomes the drawbacks of prior art indicatingtargets, which is inexpensive to produce, which has high operationalreliability, which is amenable to mass production techniques, and whichprovides a high contrast indication of the point of bullet impact.Additional abjects and advantages will become apparent from the ensuingdescription thereof.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a portion of a targetaccording to the invention, taken at line l-1 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a front cutaway view of said target.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a mosaic sticker embodiment of the inventionand FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken at 4-4 in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT (FIGS. 1-2) FIGS. 1 and 2 show apreferred form of an indicating target according to the invention. Thetarget comprises a laminar assembly including a brightly colored paperbacking sheet 10. Bonded to the front surface of sheet 10 is atransparent plastic film 12. To the front surface of plastic film 12 isapplied a white ink layer 14 having a conventional target pattern 16printed thereon in black ink. A congruent pattern 18 is printed onbacking sheet 10.

The preferred materials and fabrication procedures for the target areasfollows. Backing sheet 10 preferably is fabricated of common low costbond (no rag content) writing paper approximately 0.1 millimeter thickand dyed or inked with a brightly-colored fluorescent dye or ink, e.g.;with an orange or red dye, as indicated by the lining in FIG. 2. Plasticfilm 12 preferably is 0.075 millimeter thick and is heat bonded tobacking sheet 10. Film 12 preferably is a resin of the ionomer type madeby E. I. duPont de Nemours and Co. of Wilmington, Del. and sold underthe trademark Surlyn, but any other type or brand which operatessatisfactorily may be used. Preferably, film 12 has been corona etchedon its rear surface so that the proper bond strength can be achieved atrelatively low bonding temperature. A suitable ionomer film derived fromSurlyn ionomer which is corona etched on one side is sold under thetrademark Surflex by Flex-O-Glass Inc., 11 North Cicero Ave., Chicago,Il. Bonding the corona etched side of film 12 to the backing sheet 10 ata temperature of about C and a pressure of about 2O0gm/cm was found toproduce a satisfactory bond.

Targets produced in this manner will produce a relatively large hitindication, i.e., of about 2 cm diameter for a cal. .22 bullet. If ahigher strength bond is provided between film l2 and backing sheet 10,(i.e., through the use of greater heat and pressure) the diameter of thehit indication will decrease.

Ink layers 14 and 16 are preferably of the heavybodied type, normallyused for printing directly on metal containers, and are applied byconventional printing processes such that layer 14 is about 0025mm thickand such that black ink portions 16 are thick enough to mask theportions of white ink layer 14 that lie thereunder. For use on a 50 ydrifle range, the target size should be about 9 inches by 7 inches, asrecommended by the National Rifle Association, Washington, D.C.

DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS (INCL. FIGS. 3&4)

While certain specific features of the invention have been shown anddiscussed in the above embodiment, whose operation has been presentlyfound to be superior in terms of the foregoing objectives, various otheromissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of thedevice illustrated and in their operation may be made within the scopeof the invention, as illustrated by the following examples:

I. Backing sheet 10 can be eliminated if plastic film 12 is dyed in abright color to provide high contrast to ink layers 12 and 14. Howeverthe use of a colored backing sheet 10 and transparent film 12 arerecommended to allow control over the area of the hit indication.

2. Plastic film 12 can be omitted and ink layer 14-16 printed directlyon backing sheet 10. In this modification, ink layer 12 should have areduced bond (lower peel strength) with backing layer 10.

3. Sheet can be mounted in spaced relationship behind, rather thanadherent to, film 12.

4. A chipable ink layer similar to 14-16 can be provided on either thefront or back surface of plastic film 12 and no additional ink or backuppaper is employed. The ambient background light is relied upon to showthrough any removed portion to provide contrast.

5. Paint can be substituted for ink layer 14-16. Lacquer type paint isrecommended.

6. (FIGS. 3-4) A mosaic of hexagonal paper discs 30 having pressuresensitive adhesive on the back thereof may be substituted for the entireink layer 14-16, with the discs being white and the target patternprinted thereon as indicated at 16. The side-to-side dimension of eachdisc preferably is about /2 inch for use with cal. .22 bullets. A mosaicof square, triangular, or circular discs may also be used. Also thetarget could be as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except that a disc could besubstituted for the ink layer solely at the bullseye.

OPERATION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT When a bullet passes through thetarget of FIGS. 1 and 2, a substantially larger-than-bullet-size holewill be made in ink layers 14-16, as illustrated at 20, and a somewhatsmaller-than-bullet-size hole will be made in film 12 and coloredbacking sheet 10, as illustrated at 22. The smaller diameter hole 22 isof course formed in the conventional manner, but the large removed inkarea is formed in a manner which I do not fully understand at present,but which I believe to be as described in the next two paragraphs.

When the bullet strikes the target it elastically deforms the plasticfilm in the immediate area around the point of impact, creating aconical depression thereat. Paper backing sheet 10, being substantiallyinelastic, sustains multiple tears radiating from the point of impact.The bond between sheets 10 and 12 is also substantially destroyed at thepoint of impact. Ink layers 14 and 16, also being inelastic, are crackedradially and circumferentially around the point of impact and alsobecome unbonded from plastic film 12, forming loosely adherent separateflakes.

When the bullet stretches film 12 to the limit of elastic deformation,film 12 ruptures, forming a bulletsized hole through which the bulletpasses. Thereafter, due to the elasticity of film 12, it snaps back toplanar form. This snap back action is rapid enough to cause loosenedportions of ink layer 14-16 to be thrown off the surface of film 12around the impact point. Backing 10, being inelastic, acts to limit thearea over ,which elastic deformation of film 12 occurs, thus limitingthe size of the hit indication. Backing sheet 10 also returns tosubstantially planar form but is left separated from film 12 around thepoint of impact, as illustrated at 24.

The resulting visual effect, as shown at 20 in FIG. 2, is that eachbullet impact area comprises a large removed ink area which reveals asubstantially largerthan-bullet-size portion of brightly-colored backingsheet 10. Thus the point of bullet impact is highly visible at targetrange distances. For example a 0.22 inch diameter bullet was found'toproduce a brightly- OPERATION OF ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS Operation ofthe alternative embodiments is similar to the foregiong, with a largeportion of ink layers 14-16 being thrown off upon bullet impact, exceptfor the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4. In these embodiments, the entiredisc penetrated by the bullet is thrown off as illustrated at 32,revealing a substantially largerthan-bullet-size portion of the backupsheet 10. If the bullet penetrates the border area between two adjacentdiscs, both will be thrown off. The discs are believed to be thrown offin a manner similar to that applicable for FIGS. 1 and 2; i.e., the bondis weakened by the initial stretching and the disc is thrown off uponsnapback.

While the above description contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limitations upon the scope of the invention butmerely as an exemplification of several preferred embodiments thereof.The true scope of the invention is indicated by the subject matter ofthe appended claims and their legal equivalents.

I claim:

1. A target comprising substrate means and target pattern means formedon one side of said substrate means in a layer substantially coveringsaid one side of said substrate means, said substrate means and saidtarget pattern means being mutually contrasting visually, said substratemeans and said target pattern means being arranged such that when struckby a high speed projectile, a substantially larger-than-projectile-sizeportion of said target pattern means at the projectiles point of impactwill be physically separated and removed from the rest of said targetpattern means, and a hole, of a size smaller than said removed portionof said target pattern means, will be made in said substrate means,whereby a portion of said substrate means around said hole will beexposed by the impact ofsaid projectile.

2. The target of claim 1 wherein said substrate means is contrastinglycolored to said target pattern means by means of a fluorescent dye.

3. The target of claim 1 wherein said substrate means comprises atransparent film backed by a layer of material having a contrastingcolor to said target pattern means.

4. The target of claim 1 wherein said substrate means comprises anionomer resin and said target pattern means comprises an ink layer.

5. The target of claim 4 wherein said ionomer resin is transparent andis backed by a layer of material having a contrasting color to saidtarget pattern means.

6. The target of claim 4 wherein said ionomer resin has a contrastingcolor to said target pattern means.

7. The target of claim 1 wherein said substrate means has a targetpattern congruent with the target pattern on said target pattern means.

8. The target of claim 7 wherein said substrate means comprises atransparent film backed by a layer of material having a contrastingcolor to said target pattern means, said congruent target pattern beingformed on said layer of material.

9. The target of claim 8 wherein said layer of material is paper whichis dyed with a brightly-colored fluorescent ink.

10. The target of claim 1 wherein said target pattern means comprises atleast one substantially larger-thanbullet-size flat member adhesivelysecured to said substrate means.

11. The target of claim 1. wherein said target pattern means comprises amosaic of substantially larger-thanbullet-size flat members adhesivelysecured to and covering said substrate means and carrying a targetpattern thereon.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPATENT NO. 3,895,803 D E 1 July 22, 1975 INV ENTOR(S) James M. Loe

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the abstract page, change inventor's address from "27 School Lane,Willow Grove, Pa. 19090" to 6712 E. Presidio, Scottsdale, Arizcna [SEAL]A ttest:

RUTH C. MASON Arresting Ojlficer fourteenth Day Of October 1975 C.MARSHALL DANN Commissioner ojPatenrs and Trademarks

1. A target comprising substrate means and target pattern means formedon one side of said substrate means in a layer substantially coveringsaid one side of said substrate means, said substrate means and saidtarget pattern means being mutually contrasting visually, said substratemeans and said target pattern means being arranged such that when struckby a high speed projectile, a substantially larger-than-projectile-sizeportion of said target pattern means at the projectile''s point ofimpact will be physically separated and removed from the rest of saidtarget pattern means, and a hole, of a size smaller than said removedportion of said target pattern means, will be made in said substratemeans, whereby a portion of said substrate means around said hole willbe exposed by the impact of said projectile.
 2. The target of claim 1wherein said substrate means is contrastingly colored to said targetpattern means by means of a fluorescent dye.
 3. The target of claim 1wherein said substrate means comprises a transparent film backed by alayer of material having a contrasting color to said target patternmeans.
 4. The target of claim 1 wherein said substrate means comprisesan ionomer resin and said target pattern means comprises an ink layer.5. The target of claim 4 wherein said ionomer resin is transparent andis backed by a layer of material having a contrasting color to saidtarget pattern means.
 6. The target of claim 4 wherein said ionomerresin has a contrasting color to said target pattern means.
 7. Thetarget of claim 1 wherein said substrate means has a target patterncongruent with the target pattern on said target pattern means.
 8. Thetarget of claim 7 wherein said substrate means comprises a transparentfilm backed by a layer of material having a contrasting color to saidtarget pattern means, said congruent target pattern being formed on saidlayer of material.
 9. The target of claim 8 wherein said layer ofmaterial is paper which is dyed with a brightly-colored fluorescent ink.10. The target of claim 1 wherein said target pattern means comprises atleast one substantially larger-than-bullet-size flat member adhesivelysecured to said substrate means.
 11. The target of claim 1 wherein saidtarget pattern means comprises a mosaic of substantiallylarger-than-bullet-size flat members adhesively secured to and coveringsaid substrate means and carrying a target pattern thereon.